octomom

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Riddle me this: What has 36 legs and faints at the sign of trouble?


I like spiders and stinkbugs and lumpy-bumpy toads, but I do not have an aversion to cuteness. Case in point: My friend Sue Wagoner from Aurora, Illinois sent me this email with two delightful photos attached.

Sue writes, "One early morning as I was getting out of bed, I looked out my second story window and saw a 'possom in my neighbor's yard. Knowing where her den is (entrance to which is in my yard), I grabbed my camera, raced outdoors in my bare feet and nightgown and just as she was passing behind some wonderfully handy shrubbery, I positioned myself for when she emerged. To my surprise she had eight passengers, which I had not noticed before."

"It took two shots to see all the little guys hanging on for dear life, but if you count the pairs of ears in the shot (where you don't see mama's face) there are indeed eight! (She never noticed me.)"
 

I am in the midst of suburbia so I am hoping for the best for her and her babes in this rather indifferent (or worse) environment," Sue concluded.

Every time I begin to believe that I have it rough, I'm reminded that somewhere else, someone or something has a more difficult row to hoe than I, like having to carry eight babies on your back. 

Female 'possums have a life expectancy of about three years. During that short time on earth, starting when they are only six months old, they can have three litters a year. Do the math. 

Oy vey. Oh, the pain!

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